Grip Inc. - The Power Of Inner Strength
1995 Metal Blade
by Horatio

Quick Summary:
Out of the metal wasteland of 1995 came Grip Inc., signed primarily because of Lombardo's presence, the thrash legend unheard of since his firing from Slayer in 1992.  I recall buying this for that sole reason, expecting some healthy thrash, of which this does deliver on the odd moment.  What this album really tells me is how gullible I was in 1995, buying anything remotely associated with metal.  Aside from Lombardo, the other band members were unknown (well to me anyway), vocalist Chambers an English native, which is obvious listening to his crude attempts at singing here.

In 95 Lombardo was still hailed as thrash's premier drummer and his speed is put to use on several tracks, including 'Hostage To Heaven' and um, some other ones.  'Colours Of Death' is impressive on the speed scale, but the majority of the album is mid paced, a bad idea as no one is interested in hearing Lombardo play it safe.  Chambers is the biggest problem, his vocals on 'Hostage To Heaven' unintentionally hilarious, as he speaks the lyrics almost, in a strong English accent which gives the impression they hired some yob out of a pub.  Reviews were average, and I recall a review of a live gig Grip played at some Euro festival in 1995, which slammed Chambers for grabbing his crotch during 'Monster Among Us', a song concerning child molesting.  What's more amazing is that Grip Inc. released two more albums, and talk is that a fourth is due shortly.

Website:  home.earthlink.net/~wanker1

Song Summaries:

1. Toque De Muerto - I have no clue to the meaning of the title.  A brief instrumental with a Calypso influence.  I think anyway.  F
2. Savage Seas (Retribution) - You would assume that leads into a full scale thrasher right?  No.  Takes time building up to a weak burst of speed near the end, that lacks power, therefore causing me to stay seated, motionless.  C
3. Hostage To Heaven - Fast from the start, a competent Slayer rip-off which turns into a joke when Chambers appears.  He sounds like he cant keep up with the music, as he tries to spit out the garbled lyrics which lack sense and that are too tedious to be repeated here, well maybe except 'symbolic bullshit hung around the necks of the weak'.  This caused much amusement in my household in 1995, Chambers a comedian without knowing it.  A (for the vocals)
4. Monster Among Us - A gripping and harrowing portrayal of the terror of pedophiles, with such graphically aware lyrics like 'every orifice filled with semen'.  Worse are the verses with the use of a 1982 Casio synthesizer.  Absolute garbage.  D
5. Guilty Of Innocence - That's a clever title, isn't it?  Very ironic, hmm?  Song very crap, yes?  Half baked speed scattered around, with Dave trying some old school double bass kicks, that without Slayer are exposed as powerless.  C
6. Innate Affliction - If I picked an album up in 2003 and saw a title like this I would either laugh or smash the CD in half.  Heavy on the surface, but with as much depth as the Oakland Raiders.  D
7. Colours Of Death - Reasonable thrash but so far removed from genre heavyweights that it makes it almost unlistenable.  The reliance on slow sections drags things down.  Somehow there's not enough meat in the production, far too thin.  C
8. Ostracized - Gut wrenching tale of the outcasts of society who 'roam the streets, nowhere to go'.  Did Grip Inc. really think people were reading the lyrics and taking a message from them?  Like 'wow, these lyrics are socially aware, I won't treat bums with disdain anymore, after all, they're like you and me.  Just fallen on hard times you know?  It could be you or me next'.  Aside from that, three minutes of pure nothing.  D
9. Cleanse The Seed - This album still going?  Nodded off.  F
10. Heretic War Chant - Thrash interspersed with mediocre slower verses.  Another bitter tale, this time about the ravages of war and the innocents caught up as greedy dictators fight for their own means.  I wonder if Chambers sat down and wrote these lyrics thinking they were original and provocative.  It comes off as a stale remnant of the 80's era.  D
11. The Longest Hate - How's this for a classic lyric- 'fascist nazi dog, please tell me why? WHY? YOU FUCK'.  This even uses the dated practice of using T.V. newscasts as a background effect as the newsreader documents urban violence to emphasize the horrific message behind the lyrics.  And the music.  C-

Average Song Rating:  D+
Overall Album Rating:  D

Also be sure to read:
Slayer - Christ Illusion by Skin Splitter & Horatio (Dave Lombardo)
Slayer - Decade Of Aggression Quick Reviews by Horatio (Dave Lombardo)
Slayer - Reign In Blood by Horatio (Dave Lombardo)
Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss by Uncle Meat (Dave Lombardo)
Slayer - Show No Mercy by Uncle Meat (Dave Lombardo)
Slayer - Show No Mercy Quick Review by Shev (Dave Lombardo)
Slayer (tribute)- Straight To Hell:  A Tribute To Slayer by Shev